Car-coupling.



No. 856,530. PATENTED JUNE 11, 1907.

' W. F. KIESEL, JR.

GAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED 00121, 1906.

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wxgfl. WITNESSES: I INVENTOR ATTORNEY No. 856,530. PATENTED JUNEll,1907. W F KIESEL, JR OAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 1, 1906.

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1 1 I I l I I I INVENTOR WITNESSES ATTORNEY 1n: nzmms vrrERs UNITEDSTATES PATENT, OFFICE.

WILLIAM F. KIESEL, Jn, OFVALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA.

CAR-COUPLING.

Application filed October 1, 1

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAu F. KIESEL, Jr., a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Altoona, in the county of Blair and State. ofPennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inCar-Couplers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in the knuckle catch employed incoupler heads which are pivotally mounted upon the coupler draw-bars, asin the car coupler described in my Letters-Patent dated June 27, 1905,No. 793,592: the main object of my improve ment being to provide anoperating arm for the catch, the free end of which, (that is to say, theend to which the operating link is coupled), will be located inproximity to the pivot pin upon which the coupler head swings; in orderthat said end of the arm shall have the least possible displacement, asthe coupler head is swung from side to side around the pivot pin.

I attain my object by arranging the parts of the coupler head andknuckle catch in the manner illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich 1 Figure 1 represents a plan view of a coup ler head andcentralizing devices pivotally mounted upon the outer end of a draw-bar,as described in my said Letters-Patent; Fig. 2, a vertical longitudinalsection of the same; Fig. 3, a horizontal section of the coupler headdetached; Fig. 4, an end view of the coupler head, the left hand portionbeing sectioned on the line a-a in Fig. 3; and Figs. 5 and 6, a sideelevation and a plan view, re spectively, of the knuckle catch.

Like numerals refer to like parts in the several views.

The coupler head 1 is pivotally mounted upon the outer end of abifurcated draw-bar 2, which extends back to the spring yoke asdescribed in my said Letters-Patent, the coupler head and draw-bar beingconnected together by the pivot pin 3, and the coupler head beingcentralized upon the draw-bar, and the draw-bar also being centralized,by means of the followers 4'-4 and the centralizing spring 5. As soconstructed, the coupler head is permitted to oscillate from side toside upon the end of the draw-bar to conform With the side motion of thecars, and the portions thereof more remote from the pivot pin 3 willhave considerable motion relatively to the draw-bar. For this reason itis desirable to couple the operating means Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented June 11,1907.

906. Serial No. 336.857.

for releasing the knuckle catch to the catch at .a point as nearlycoincident with the axis of oscillation as possible, to avoid unduedisplacement.

Referring to Fig. 3, the relative arrangement of the knuckle and catchin this type of coupler head will be understood, the knuckle 6 beingoutlined in broken lines and. be ing shown provided with an arm 8 whichis engaged at 11 bythc catch 9 to hold the knuckle in locked position,the catch 9 being pivotally mounted in the coupler head by means of thepin 10 and being automatically thrown into locking position by means ofthe spring 12. The knuckle and catch, as so constructed, I do not claimas my invention. In order, however, to operate the catch from a pointadjacent the coupler head pivot pin, I provide, on the under side of thefree end of the catch, a projection 13 which passes through an opening14 provided therefor in the shell of the coupler head, said projectionbeing continued, in the form of a bent arm 15, to a point adjacent oneend of the pivot pin 3; this arm extending preferably from the lowerside of the coupler head and being coupled at its free end to a link 16,by which it is connected to any suitable releasing device to be operatedfrom the platform or side of the car, such release rigging having nopart in my present invention.

By this arrangement, it will be seen that, as the coupler head is swungfrom side to side upon the pivot pin 3, the end of the arm 15, to-whichthe link is coupled, will move in a circle of short radius around theaxis of the pivot pin, thereby avoiding any material change in thelocation of this end of the arm, such as would effect motion in thecatch by reason of its connection to a "fixed release riggingl Then thecatch is drawn back by the release rigging to free the knuckle, the

end of the arm 15 passes in an are below the pivot pin 3 to a point ashort distance the other side of the pivotal axis, and is thereforestill subject to small displacement, when in this unlocked position, byreason of the set of the cou ler head upon the end of the draw-bar. Iave shown the arm inte rally united to the catch and provided withongitudinal ribs for strength, but it may be otherwise attached to thecatch and otherwise formed than I have herein illustrated it.

It will be noted that the outer side wall of the chamber in whichtheknuckle catch is mounted is carried out around the catch from theback of the coupler head to the knuckle hinge, thus inclosing andprotecting the catch and its ivot pin, as well as the locking arm of'theknuckle. This unbroken side wall, moreover, gives additional strength tothe coupler head where breakage is most apt to occur.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

1. The combination, with an oscillating cou ler head, of a knuckle catchprovided wit an operating arm which terminates at a point in or near theaxis of oscillation, and means for coupling said arm at said point to arelease rigging.

2. The combination, with a coupler head pivotally mounted upon the endof a vdrawbar, of a knuckle catch pivotally mounted in .a chamberprovided therefor Within the coupler head, an operating arm projectinga, from the catch through an opening in the under side of the couplerhead and extending to a point below the coupler head pivot pin and in ornear the pivotal axis, and means for coupling said arm at said point toa release rigging.

3. The combination, With a coupler head having a knucklepivotally-mounted thereon, of a knuckle catch pivotally mounted in thehead and adapted at its free end to engage the knuckle when in couplingposition, the catch at its free end being provided with a verticalprojection which passes out through an 0 pening provided therefor in thehead, said projection being provided outside the head with a laterallyextending operating arm.

4. A coupler head having a knuckle pivotally mounted at the outer endthereof, said knuckle being provided with a rearwardly extending lockingarm, and a knuckle catch pivotally mounted in the head at the rear ofthe knuckle in position to engage said arm, the head being chambered toreceive the knuckle arm and catch and the outer side Wall of saidchamber being carried forward unbrokenly from the back of the head tothe knuckle hinge to inc-lose the catch and its pivot pin and thelocking arm.

In testimony whereof I have affixed sig nature, in presence of twoWitnesses.

WILLIAM F. KIESEL, JR. Witnesses:

J. F. MEcK, F. N. PARIS.

